New Tenant, New Image, Loehmann's Plaza Says

July 18, 1986|By Selwyn Crawford of The Sentinel Staff

The company that owns Loehmann's Plaza in Altamonte Springs said Thursday that a ''major retail tenant'' is preparing to become the anchor tenant in the 165,000-square-foot center, marking the beginning of a six-month program to polish the plaza's tarnished image.

Steve Brandon, secretary-treasury of Brandon Co. in Miami, would not identify the tenant, saying only that it was a retail business but ''not food oriented.''

Workers are remodeling the 28,000-square-foot section of the center known as The Market to prepare for the new tenant. Brandon said the seven or eight restaurants that formerly occupied The Market have either relocated to other parts of the shopping center or moved away.

''We're trying to use the identity of the new tenant as an excitement generator for our other tenants and our customers,'' Brandon said. ''I've got a six-month program to build up the marketing and promotion of the center, and this is just the beginning.''

Loehmann's Plaza has been troubled almost from the time it was announced in 1981. First, its grand opening was delayed several weeks. Then, with parts not finished, it opened in November 1983 with only 26 stores -- far short of the 75 to 90 originally planned.

Turnover since then has been high: Between the time the center opened and May 1985, 19 businesses left. Several cited problems with the mall's management and a lack of customers.

Brandon said that is beginning to change. He said the plaza is now 75 percent full; a new restaurant -- Studebakers -- is planning to open at one end of the center; and the new tenant will anchor the opposite end. In between is the shopping center's namesake, Loehmann's, an off-price apparel store.

''It's a whole new shopping center,'' Brandon said. ''It's taking a lot of hard work, but it's going to be better.''